[yyzSB]

Things are no longer “going”, I’m now home again and enjoying a cup of tea. I’ll post details of my experience and thoughts a little later after I’ve eaten. In summary:- new phones , trying to assess them in a public space …….

The thing I am trying to figure out is which if the 2 new phones to buy. Is there a compelling case for the Magna over the Imannis, ignoring price?

 

[number1sixerfan]

Thank you, Simorag, for sharing your thoughts!

It appears there's a distinct Raal house sound. If you replace every instance of "Immanis" in your write-up with "SR1a+Star8+TI1a", all the points you mentioned still seem valid.

Edit : Upon re-reading your post #256, I see that you've already discussed the Raal house sound characteristics. However, you mentioned that the Immanis is not as detail-intensive as the SR1b. It appears that no other headphones can match the SR1a in terms of detail retrieval. Regarding the plushness of the sound (HE-1), the meaty, dark, dense tonality (Valkyria), and the visceral impact (1266Phi TC), I believe I can achieve—and even surpass—these qualities with various combinations of amps, filters, EQ, and a subwoofer.

What I gather from all this is that the Immanis is the superior all-rounder as it stands. However, I feel that I can extract much better performance from different SR1a combinations and configurations.

I think it's also has to do with ribbons having a distinct sound and leaning towards a really resolving sound. As for detail retrieval and resolution, the Hifiman SGL Sr. is a bit more resolving imo, but also a huge $ difference between the two. Besides that, I would probably have the x9000 tied with it and then everything else is below of the things I've heard.

Will RAAL be at the 2024 Axpona Show with the Magna and Immanis?

From what I was told, yes!

 

[nfandi]

The thing I am trying to figure out is which if the 2 new phones to buy. Is there a compelling case for the Magna over the Imannis, ignoring price?

You’re stealing some of what I was going to say in my ‘Day in Heidelberg’ summary but this is something I did discuss with Alex so I’ll address it here. It’s clear the 2 phones are from the same family and Alex described it very well earlier in this thread when he said if you consider Immanis to be like a large floor-stander with a 15 inch woofer then Magna is from the same ‘family’ of floorstanders but is limited to 70L. If you have lived your life in Hi-Fi with big floorstanding speakers or with added sub-woofers you will probably prefer the Immanis, but if you‘re happy with smaller speakers of very high quality and don’t need the extra weight in the bottom end you will be entirely happy with Magna. I know Alex feels that people will gravitate towards Immanis because of the 3 v 2 ribbons compared to Magna but people should actually hear both before deciding; they‘re both very good, but Immanis is “bigger” in sound. If you don’t need that then go with Magna. Is there a compelling case for Magna over Immanis? Other than what I’ve written above? No, I don’t think there is. BUT, I think the Magna should not be ignored or discounted because of Immanis. And you especially have no excuse. You live so close to Ventura that you can go and listen to both and then make your choice…..easy.

 

[yyzSB]

You’re stealing some of what I was going to say in my ‘Day in Heidelberg’ summary but this is something I did discuss with Alex so I’ll address it here. It’s clear the 2 phones are from the same family and Alex described it very well earlier in this thread when he said if you consider Immanis to be like a large floor-stander with a 15 inch woofer then Magna is from the same ‘family’ of floorstanders but is limited to 70L. If you have lived your life in Hi-Fi with big floorstanding speakers or with added sub-woofers you will probably prefer the Immanis, but if you‘re happy with smaller speakers of very high quality and don’t need the extra weight in the bottom end you will be entirely happy with Magna. I know Alex feels that people will gravitate towards Immanis because of the 3 v 2 ribbons compared to Magna but people should actually hear both before deciding; they‘re both very good, but Immanis is “bigger” in sound. If you don’t need that then go with Magna. Is there a compelling case for Magna over Immanis? Other than what I’ve written above? No, I don’t think there is. BUT, I think the Magna should not be ignored or discounted because of Immanis. And you especially have no excuse. You live so close to Ventura that you can go and listen to both and then make your choice…..easy.

Thanks for the feedback, I definitely will go and have a listen. Problem with me is I end up buying the RAAL gear on the spot, SR1a | CA-1a | VM-1a all bought on a very short listen. Very dangerous on the finances.

Good thing is that it will take some time since the batches are selling out and I am not sure what Danny will have stock on hand. I say, "we don't need no stinkin batches"

 

[nfandi]

Thanks for the feedback, I definitely will go and have a listen. Problem with me is I end up buying the RAAL gear on the spot, SR1a | CA-1a | VM-1a all bought on a very short listen. Very dangerous on the finances.

Good thing is that it will take some time since the batches are selling out and I am not sure what Danny will have stock on hand. I say, "we don't need no stinkin batches"

You may need to go easy on the volume control, or even consider something like a GoldPoint passive-attenuator, but Alex is VERY happy that the new phones both sound very good on the VM-1a. Hey, if you’re undecided why not become a Raal collector and buy both of them?

 

[yyzSB]

You may need to go easy on the volume control, or even consider something like a GoldPoint passive-attenuator, but Alex is VERY happy that the new phones both sound very good on the VM-1a. Hey, if you’re undecided why not become a Raal collector and buy both of them?

I do not like to have too much stuff (of anything). I like to keep things lean.

 

[simorag]

Try this album if you get a chance. The realism is unbelievable on the SR1's.

Really awesome, thanks for the suggestion! I don't have an SR1 here, all I can say is that with the Immanis you get an impressive X-ray shot of that close miked guitar

The song "Snow and Pollen" on the album, New Decade, by Phew does some things on the SR1a that I was not able to replicate on much more expensive headphones at the Florida Audio Expo a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks! Not my usual genre, but really a spectacular sonics display and fun listen. The spatial layering, the pounding bass and the 3d sound effects are enthralling. Of the three HP I have here, indeed the Immanis provides the most transparent, enjoyable presentation of this track.

Would love to read an A/B with Susvara on the same chain.

Try testing simorag’s memory. He used to own the Susvara.

I had the Susvara more than 2 years ago, and they stood with me for only a few months, so going into a detailed comparison would be inaccurate / unfair.

On a high level, I would say that the Susvara is more versatile as an all-rounder, as the Immanis can be really punishing on less than perfect recordings. Also, if you are into planar bass and a smooth midrange, the Susvara may be the better choice.

On the other hand, if you are into the spatial aspect of headphones listening, excitement, and utmost purity of sound / clarity, the Immanis is likely more appealing.

From my first long listening session, the highlights have been orchestral music, both large and small scale, jazz, acoustic guitar, small percussions.

Listening to op. 131 from this collection in sheer awe.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I'm at home by now, arrived 1.5h ago, had dinner, played with the cats and now it's time to write some small impressions about the day. I'm tired, didn't get much sleep last night, therefore I'll keep it Brief.

I spent in total roughly ~3h at @Aleksandar R. stand. At 10 a.m. the show started and I was there at like 10:20 and could get a first audition.

Sound wise both Sound good, really good. However under Show conditions they can't really Show their strengths and it would be dishonest to say they are better than [Insert your favourite flagship]. I enjoyed the Immanis so much that I will get one myself. Maybe not in the 2nd batch, maybe not even the 3rd but I will get one. (Envy Anniversary Edition crushed the funds for now)
To me the Immanis was the clear favourite and it will probably be for most. It just offers all that the Magna can with some additional fullness.

So far, no surprises. What did however surprise me was the build and aesthetics. Pictures don't do them justice at all, they look and feel much better than I expected. This counts for the headphones themselves but also the headphone stand, which looked magnificent, especially in conjunction with the Walnut Envy.
The Walnut Envy with the Walnut Veneer on Immanis and headphone stand, had similarly luxurious vibes than the Marblestone on the HE1. At least to me.
The only thing I didn't like aesthetically was the splitter on the cable, but that one wasn't final yet on the cable of today.

@Aleksandar R. Explained a lot of the design choices and working principles of the dual and triple drivers as well as build process. It was very interesting, and he is also very good at explaining so that even a layman like me could follow
It was fun and I enjoyed Meeting him a lot. Whenever you have the chance to meet him at a show, you should do so, he is a very down to earth and simply all around amazing guy.
In the afternoon I just wanted to say goodbye before travelling home and instead actually talked to him for roughly 2 more hours

Meanwhile I made the decision to sell my Corina and to not invest in an estat amplifier at all and instead go the Raal 1995 Route.

Live reaction of my wallet:

 

[nfandi]

Thanks for the feedback, I definitely will go and have a listen. Problem with me is I end up buying the RAAL gear on the spot, SR1a | CA-1a | VM-1a all bought on a very short listen. Very dangerous on the finances.

Good thing is that it will take some time since the batches are selling out and I am not sure what Danny will have stock on hand. I say, "we don't need no stinkin batches"

Apologies, but I am new to this game and haven’t yet worked out how to write something without it being a reply to another post. So, here is my ‘report’ on my day in Heidelberg and which you should all know started out with only 3 objectives:- Say hello to Thomas from headphone.shop, not seen him for a few months; say hello to Alex and ask a few questions; say hello to Immanis….full stop. There was some exotica there today but I was not interested.

For some context look at the photo Alex posted last night in post # 302. I am sitting on the right side with my back to you, my partner is seated on the sofa to the right. The glass door in the background is open and Alex is there entertaining many guests and their questions. To my left is a guy listening to Magna or Immanis via the Envy and I can tell you no matter how loud I listened to the Immanis I could still hear everything he was listening to……
The amp I’m using is the HSA-1c, released by SAEQ as a development of the 1b, but now outside of the ‘control’ of Raal-Requisite’ and the upgrade from 1b to 1c was to improve the amp for use with Planars; it did not improve on the 1b as far as Ribbons are concerned. The orange/red cable you can see in the photo was made for Alex by SAEQ to ‘soften’ the output and bring it more in line with the 1b. If you need more details please ask Alex. The RCA cables are ‘terminated‘ with a 3.5mm adaptor so it would have been a very disappointing day had I not taken my SP3000 DAP (Thomas did tell me to bring it). Alex told me that the RCA-3.5mm adaptor cost about 50 cents which I found somewhat amusing given I’m listening to a €10K headphone. You can also see in the photo the completed interface, disguised as a headphone stand, now complete with leather covering on the upper surface. I did not use the interface during my all too brief listening session as I stayed with the HSA throughout.
My playlist as follows:- Mars, the Bringer of War, from the Planet Suite, Charles duToit, Montreal Symphony Orchestra; Song for Zimbabwe, Antonio Forcione, Sketches of Africa; Concerto for two Violins, Amandine Breyer and Gli Incogniti (as a prelude to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons); Songbird, Eva Cassidy; Alegria, Cirque du Soleil; The Curse, Agnes Obel; Barracuda, Heart.

It’s not fully representative of what I listen to but there’s enough variation there to get a flavour of what Immanis offers. Alex told me I had to hear both phones so I listened to only 1-2 minutes of each track on the Immanis and then repeated most of it on the Magna. In total I think I had about 30-40 minutes total listening time. Throughout this time there was somebody sitting in the chair opposite making sure I knew that I was consuming THEIR listening time.

Mimaximax, please don’t confuse detail-intensive and detail-retrieval. If anything I sensed more details from the Immanis than I get from the SR-1b. It’s at least as detailed but it’s smoother, more refined and less intensive, but it’s all there. AND my comments are made on the basis of having heard both phones. The standout sensation though, in comparison to the CA-1a which is my daily driver, is the bass. The bass is more deeply extended and it retains a high quality but with no bloom or boom or encroachment into the lower mids. This sensation; this thought, has remained with me throughout the day. This feeling of added weight or fullness but still retaining the detail, speed, clarity of the SR and CA. Imagine the best of the CA and SR joined together but with an overall smoother, more refined presentation but with all the details still there BUT with added cleaner, clearer, deeper bass. Yes, there isn’t the flexibility of the variable angles of the SR, nor the open sensation especially on a warm or hot day, but Immanis basically makes the CA-1a redundant, in need of a new home etc., and apart from the cooler ears on a warm day, or the flexibility of the open baffles, pretty much does the same to the SR in terms of sound quality.

Please accept this as a summary of my experience today and that it could be entirely different to what you will experience, especially those of you who own the VM-1a. My own experience at home with Roon, feeding my Holo Audio May into the HSA-1b could be very different to me using my SP3000 as the source into the HSA-1c. The surrounding noises of people engaged in hearty discussion and laughter, coupled with the loud noises coming from the Magna/Immanis of my very noisy neighbour do not lend themselves to hearing the fine details that these phones can provide…BUT…I had some real WOW moments on some tracks I know very well, you know the clichés …details not noticed before, or tonal qualities never before heard in the same way; Eva Cassidy bringing tears to the eyes; THOSE long-bowed cello notes on The Curse; the last minute or so of Barracuda…..it’s very old school rock but it sounds so good….

And FINALLY…the absolute 100% stand-out unforgettable moment of the day (apart from meeting Alex and saying hello to Thomas again) was when I passed the Immanis to my partner, who doesn’t like headphones. Let me just emphasise that; she really doesn’t like headphones. She listened to some of Songbird, the opening fretless bass on Alegria and then The Curse by Agnes Obel. Normally after 10 or 20 seconds she hands headphones back to me with just ‘that look’, no comments. But when she was listening to The Curse I looked up and she was listening……I mean she was LISTENING. I held my hand out and she passed Immanis back to me and without any prompting she said…..”I understand now…..”

 

[nfandi]

I'm at home by now, arrived 1.5h ago, had dinner, played with the cats and now it's time to write some small impressions about the day. I'm tired, didn't get much sleep last night, therefore I'll keep it Brief.

I spent in total roughly ~3h at @Aleksandar R. stand. At 10 a.m. the show started and I was there at like 10:20 and could get a first audition.

Sound wise both Sound good, really good. However under Show conditions they can't really Show their strengths and it would be dishonest to say they are better than [Insert your favourite flagship]. I enjoyed the Immanis so much that I will get one myself. Maybe not in the 2nd batch, maybe not even the 3rd but I will get one. (Envy Anniversary Edition crushed the funds for now)
To me the Immanis was the clear favourite and it will probably be for most. It just offers all that the Magna can with some additional fullness.

So far, no surprises. What did however surprise me was the build and aesthetics. Pictures don't do them justice at all, they look and feel much better than I expected. This counts for the headphones themselves but also the headphone stand, which looked magnificent, especially in conjunction with the Walnut Envy.
The Walnut Envy with the Walnut Veneer on Immanis and headphone stand, had similarly luxurious vibes than the Marblestone on the HE1. At least to me.
The only thing I didn't like aesthetically was the splitter on the cable, but that one wasn't final yet on the cable of today.

@Aleksandar R. Explained a lot of the design choices and working principles of the dual and triple drivers as well as build process. It was very interesting, and he is also very good at explaining so that even a layman like me could follow
It was fun and I enjoyed Meeting him a lot. Whenever you have the chance to meet him at a show, you should do so, he is a very down to earth and simply all around amazing guy.
In the afternoon I just wanted to say goodbye before travelling home and instead actually talked to him for roughly 2 more hours

Meanwhile I made the decision to sell my Corina and to not invest in an estat amplifier at all and instead go the Raal 1995 Route.

Live reaction of my wallet:

Haha, so that was you sat next to me playing your music SO LOUD?

Glad you enjoyed it.

 

[BassicScience]

Apologies, but I am new to this game and haven’t yet worked out how to write something without it being a reply to another post.

Thanks for the report. Just scroll down to the "Write your reply..." box and type your post.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Haha, so that was you sat next to me playing your music SO LOUD?

Glad you enjoyed it.

Since I actually turned the volume down when I started listening there I have my doubts that my volume stood out from the others, but maybe it was me, I dunno

 

[nfandi]

Thanks for the report. Just scroll down to the "Write your reply..." box and type your post.

Ah yes. Thank you.

 

[yyzSB]

Awesome write up. I laughed out loud a couple of times.

I spoke with Danny and will make visit next week but will keep the credit card at home.

 

[nfandi]

Since I actually turned the volume down when I started listening there I have my doubts that my volume stood out from the others, but maybe it was me, I dunno

Haha; it’s an observation not a complaint . I arrived at 10.00 wandered around for a few minutes then went directly to the 4th floor. There was somebody using the Immanis/HSA-1c so I was talking with Alex until that person departed. Then I sat there for what I think was 30-40 minutes but my partner thinks it was longer. If you remember seeing a lady sat on the sofa it was probably me that was sat next to you. We should have arranged to wear pink carnations in our button holes and we could have said hello and had a chat.